Beth Ridley says being good at DEI means three things: humility about your own worldview, courage to ask questions, and genuine effort to understand different perspectives. You don't need to be an expert or change what you believe, just how you act.
Do you ever get the question, what does it mean to be good at diversity, equity, inclusion? How do you answer that? For companies and.
CEOs, I get the question all the time and because people think it means I have to know everything there is about different cultures and I have to always have the right thing to say. And that immediately turns people off because people are afraid. It's a scary topic and no one wants to say anything to put their foot in their mouth, embarrass themselves, hurt feelings or get canceled. But I like to tell people that's not what it means to be good at di. Being good at DI is really three things. One, an appreciation of the way I see the world based on my background and life experiences is my way. Everybody has their way. I have to be humble enough to appreciate everybody looks at the world differently. Two, because I don't know everything, I have to be courageous enough to just ask. There is nothing wrong with asking. That's the only way that we learn. And then when I ask and I hear something that's not my idea, goes against my own values or beliefs, is very different than my own background. I have to at least seek to understand, not agree, not like, but at least to understand. It's just those three things. You do not need to be an expert. You do not have to change your own beliefs. You just have to modify and work on your behaviors a little bit.
Yes, seek first to understand. That is a very, very good advice.
